Huller and opener



March 26, 1929.

w. L. HANCOCK 1,706,664

HULLER AND OPENER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 14. 1928 M/hczm L. Hancock 6cm mg March 26, 1929. w. L. HANGOCK HULLER AND OPENER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 14, 1928 gmwnkw William L. Hancock.

w Q W AM/ 5 March 26, 1929. w.v 1.. HANCOCK HULLER AND OPENER Filed Sept. 14, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet gwvankw W1 l/lam L. Hancock March 26, 1929. w. LQHANCOCK HULLER AND OPENER Filed Sept. 14, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3mm W1 Illam L. Hancock Patented Mar. 26, 929. i

Y 2,;UNITED .fSTATE'S I I 1.7061564 PATENT; OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. HANCOCK, or DAL Asf'rEx-As, ASSIGNOR TO THE MURRAY COMPANY, on DALLAS, TEXAS, A CORPORATION or TEXAS.

HULLER AND OPENER.

a lication filed September 14, 1928. serial no. 305,946.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in hullers and openers;

The inventionhasto do with InachinesQfOrv cleaning seed cottonfromburrs and hulls and picking the seed cotton therefrom and involves certain improvements over'the' in vention' set forth in my Letters Patent No. I

advantage of being individually replaceable,

.thus making for convenience and economy. Another object of the invention is to pro videa central feed for the incoming seed cotton in conjunction with lateral distribution to eachfside, whereby belts are maintained at eachside for handling waste cotton and bulls, and ,an even distribution is had.

further'object 'of the invention is to provide 'exteri orly controlled means of an improved character for adjusting the chute aprons. j j y I Still anotherobject of the invention is to provide a machine which will handle the cotton without putting shale into the same and also whereby the long fibres will be preserved and the spinning value increased. A construction designed to carry outthe invention 'willi'be hereinafter described, together with other features'of the invention.

The invention will be more readily under stood from a reading'of the'following specificationand by reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which an example of the invention is shown, and wherein: w 1

1 13a front elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with my invenyf- I Fig. 2 is atransverse vertical sectional view of the same,

F"g.'3 is a front view of the machinewith the front Wall removed, v

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line'H of Fig. 1, Figs. 5 and 6 aredetails of the belt structure,""' i thebelting-layout on'opposite sides of the machine,"and I :Fig. '9'is a viewlof a group of the pulleys,

onebeing showniin elevation and the others 1 V j j teeth-ast yflppser r s e Q h nates the main frame of the machine.

frame may be made of angle bars or suitable I cotton. j

Figs. 7 and 8 show in diagrammatic form In the drawings the numeral 10 desigmembers and is of a general rectangular shape, extending vertically and smaller at the top than. at the base.

One of the important features of the inv vention is the vertical carrier or belt member made up of. a plurality of individual belts 11 placed in. parallel order. The upper support forthe belts is a drive shaft 12 on which. flanged pulleys 13 are fastened,

This

von

one pulley being provided for each belt.

The 'belts also pass around flanged pulleys 14 mounted on a shaft The shaftslextend transversely of the-frame at the top mitting the vertical edges of the belts to' travel in close relation The front stretch or reach of belt travels upwardly in the direction of the ar- 1 row and thedrive shaft 12 is offset from the shaft 15, whereby the belts are inclined.

The upwardly movingreaches of the belts 11 are supported and backedup by a smooth slide or support 16, preferably formed of smooth vertical wooden strips. or other suit able material. The function of thiselement is to backup and define with certainty the.

line, of travel of the front reaches, of the Y belts, preventing sagging and giving an unyielding reactionto the impact ofv the seed The belts 11 are duplicatesand a description of one will explain the structure of all.

Each beltin its preferred form is covered" with innumerable projecting Wire teeth, im

bedded in the substance of the belt, which belt may beof Woven fabric .or leather or rubberized canvas fabric. '(See Figs. 5 and The wire teeth" 1 are preferably of tempered steel wire, bent and embedded in the belt material as is common in the fabtinuous belt, continuously covered with upric, cemented to theback of the belt and. covering the exposed-embedded end of the rication of sheets of {so-called card clothing, but my improved belt differs from these card-clothing sheets, not only in being a conmain belt sheet. This backing sheet has the effect of preventing the teeth from being forced backwards by the impact of foreign material in the seed cotton and adds to the tensile strength and durability of the belt and its frictional grip upon its actuating pulley, so that it is moved steadily and smoothly. It is especially useful however, because the continual working and bending of the belt in its passage over the pulleys or supports at each end, has a distinct tendency to work the wire teeth backward, out of the belt fabric. There is no such problem in the carding art, as the sheets of card clothing are nailed upon a surface with whichtl'iey travel and are subjected to no bending action in use.

The wire teeth are ground to a sharp edge, after being set in the belt fabric, by means of an emery covered roller set in light contact with the teeth and rotated and reciproeated as the belt is also actuated, until the required sharp point is achieved. lVhile in this specification the term needle point is used, it is not strictly correct, since the result of the grinding process is a some what flat. V-shap'ed edge, pointing in the direction of movement of the tooth'in use.

At theinside of the front of the machine upon the cross and side framemembers, are secured the various mechanical elements which jointly and severally cooperate with the belt element in performing the necessary operations upon the scedcotton.

Referring nowparticularly to Figs. 2 and 3,'it will be noted that three conveyors 17, 18 and 19 are placed across the machine and carried in suitable bearings, at their respective ends. The upper conveyor 17 includes right and left sections for conveying the cot ton to each side of the machine in the trough 20 of said conveyor. The conveyor 17 extends to each side, passing outside the frame. From each end of the trough 2O flues 21 extend downwardly 011 each side of the frame and discharge cotton into the ends of the trough 21 of the conveyor 18. The central portion of the bottom of the trough 221 is cut away at 22 so as to discharge the cotton therefrom. The conveyor l8'has its end .sections traveling over the closed bottoms of the trough so as to carry the seed cotton to the opening 22 and discharge onto the central belts, the marginal belts being beyond the ends of the said opening 22.

On the conveyor shaft 23 are mounted agitators or heaters 24, which prevent the v cotton choking the opening 22. It is pointed out that while cotton may be discharged downwardly through the opening 22, it is also carried upwardly through said opening by reason of the upwardly traveling belts.

The entire front of the frame 10 has a cover or front 25 preferably formed of sheet metal and braced by crossbars 26. Portions of the cover are made into' doors 27,, 28, 29

and 30, respectively, hinged toswing outwardly and upwardly, whereby access may be had to the top of the machine, the central and bottom portions. At the location of the conveyor 17 a feed opening 31 is provided in the cover. This opening does not extend the full width of the belts 11 and thus seed cotton is not fed ontothe marginal belts. A hopper 32 is mounted contiguous to the feed opening; Seed cotton, in the form' of picked cotton, bollies and snaps, is fed from desirable, to the hopper 32.

Mounted in the frame of the machine transversely, are a plurality of chutes 33, 34, 35 and 36, respectively, each incl'ining downwardly from the cover 25 toward" the belts. Slidably mounted on the underside a boll breaker or any other form of machine,

of the lower portion of each chute is a chute apron 37 extending to a line adjacent the belts. Each apron has rack bars 38' on its under side engagedby pinions 39 on transverse shafts 40.

By adjusting the aprons toward and from the belts, the widths of the openings there between are regulated. The shafts 40' project outside the frame and carry small hand.

wheels 41 and locking nuts 42, whereby the shafts may be adjusted from the'outside of the machine and locked in their-adjusted positions, the operator observing through the glass covered ports 25 or by opening.

the doors. By this means the aprons may I be set as is desired.

Under the aprons 37 of the chutes 33, 35 c and 36 transverse picker rolls 43, 143" and 243 are mounted and these rolls may be of any suitable construction including a plu rality of pins projecting from a cylinder. Above the conveyor 17 a transverse rotary brush or dofferroller 44 is mounted so as to rotate in close proximity to the needle points 7 p of the belt. Above the roller 44 a transverse picker roll 45 is mounted adjacent the front reach of the belt.

Between the rollers 44 and 45 I providean inclined chute 46of any suitable-material and inclined downwardly from the belts so as to discharge material into the trough 2 0 of the conveyor 17 below. A large rotary brush or stripper 47 is mounted transversely above the upper end of the belt and just over the roller 13. This brush is housed within a hood 48. The hulls and other foreign matter finally find their way to they trough 49 in which the conveyor 19 travels. The operation is as follows: The crushed and opened bolls bearing the seed cotton are slides down the chute it is shot against the belts 11. The needle point teeth of the belts will pickup the lint and some of the broken bolls and the like adhering thereto will be carried upwardly by said belts. The

teeth beingvery closely related willneithen engage the hulls, nor can the hulls easily enter t-herebetween orbe empaled thereon.

-Lint cotton'with any adhering hulls is carried upward past the trough 20 and the rotary brush 44 rotating as indicated by the arrow brushesthe hulls and most of the material not engaged by the belts so that the same falls into the trough 20. This brushing action is rather important as it has a tendency to comb the lint and thus straighten out the fibres. a 7

Material carried beyond the brush 44encounters the picker roll 45, by which all still adhering hulls and lint not belt-engaged are. knocked onto the chute 46 and sode ivered by gravity to the trough 20. The adhering lint is carried withthe belt'overthe top roller 13 to the discharge chute 50, the brush 47 acting to brush the lintrfrom the vneedle points of the belt-into said chute. I

-, The material delivered to the conveyor17 will be carried to each end of the trough 20 and discharged into the flues 21outside of the frame..-This material is delivered .by the flues to theextending endsof the trough 221. The conveyors 1 8. in this trough carry the material inwardly and discharge it through the opening 22 onto the belts 'llv and the underlying chute 35. The agitators 24 will preventa mass of seed cotton and hulls collecting below the trough 21 and within the trough. 7

All hulls and seed cotton not carried-upward fromthe chute 33 will work downward between the belts 11 and the apron of the,

chute33. This falling 'material will be en gaged by the roller 43 and thrown against the belts.

V the teeth of the belts'cwill slide down the chute 34 1 and mix with the material discharged from the conveyor18;

It is obvious that the material discharged from the trough 21, and that passing downward from the chute 34 will have a larger proportion of hulls,

lint which has been picked up by the belts will slide down the chute 35 and fall be-v tween the apron thereof and thebelts where I,

it will be subjected to the action of the roller 143, the remaining material passing down the chute 36 and being thrownfagainst the belts by the picker roller243.

By the time the material has passed'below the chute 36, and'been. acted upon by the roller 243, substantially all of the lintwill have been removed, thus leaving therejected hulls and trash to fall into thetrough 49 of the,conveyor 19. At the end of these repeated operations the lint is separated, shaken and beaten free from'hulls and trash,

Such material as is picked up by' and such hulls and the the two outside t pu the freed fibre ascendingwith "the belts and the re'ectedgmaterial descending to a lower level or another operation, until finally the rejected material, consistingof. hulls and trash, is discharged into the conveyor 23.

. It will be apparent that in a very real sense the machine is made up of an upper mechanism having a feed hopper 32, an

upper exit 50 and lower exits from the trough 20 through the chutes 21, whereby a portion of the enteringmaterial is. passed to the conveyor 18 which feeds the material across the machine and causes it to undergo a series of operations to enable the belts ll to gather and convey to the upper lint exit 50 all cleanlint. v Y

It islpointed out that materialentering through the opening 31 by way of hopper 32. I

is delivered only to the central belts, thus leaving the marginal belts free vto handle cotton which is discharged below the chute carries the cotton to each side of the 'ma chine and thus provides an even distribution. The opening 22in the trough 21 terminates short of themarginal belts, thus leavingthe same free to handle the cotton and hulls both above and below said trough Continued working of this machine, has shown that excellent results are had by 111117.

ning snaps and-ebollies, as well as picked cotton, through the same. On hully cotton the separation ofvhulls and cotton is nearly perfect and it is very rough, bolly cotton through [themachine with a loss of less than a pound of possible'to put a bale-of '33 and the conveyor, 18. Thezco'nveyo'r 17- lint. An important point is that the teeth of the belts do not take hold or engage the hulls atv any time, but insteadengage the lint and pickit fronrthe hulls. For this reason themachinedoes not cut the hullsjor.

put shale into the lint. Q Cotton treated by this machine is much improved and its value i is enhanced.

'In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown diagram matic viewsvsettingv forth theioutside belt,-

drive or layout on each side of the machine; 'In order 'thatthedriving of the parts may belts over a single wide belt is manifest, A

single wide belt is expensive and if one part The advantage of a plurality of picker is worn, the entire belt must be replaced.

Any of the several belts may be replaced and are longer lived than'a single belt.

It has been found advantageous under some conditions to omit the fabric sheet l from the belts. The wire teeth 1 being made in the form of staples and punched through the belt from the back side and re main in place, because even should they tend to work from the back of the belt, they would be'driveninto the belt when passing over the inside pulleys 13 and 14: and also when pressing against the support 16. The invention contemplates either the i use of the back sheet or its omission.

Various changes in the'size and shapeo f the different parts, as well as modifications and alterations, may be made within the scope of the appendedclaim's.

WVhat I claim, is:

' 1. In a cotton huller and opener, a supporting frame, an endless toothed picker belt, upper and lower supports over which the belt travels, the front reach of said belt traveling upwardly, means to doff lint from the belt at its upper portion, means for feeding cotton to the belt intermediate its supports, a multiplicity of beat-er rolls adjacent the front reach of the belt in spaced order, means for receiving and conveying cottonrelevated by the belt above the feeding means and notadhering to the belt, said means distributing said cotton to each side of the machine, and means receiving said distributed cotton and conveying it from each side of the machine and discharging it onto the belt below the feeding means, whereby an equal lateral distribution of the cotton is had.

2. As'in claim 1, the last named distributing and conveying means discharging the cotton on the central portion of the belt only, whereby the marginal portions of the belt are left free for other work.

3. As in claim 1, with a brushing roller above the first named receiving and-conveying means for combing and brushing the lint.

4. Ina cotton hull separator and opener,

a frame casinghaving upper and lower cotton feed openings and upper and lower cotton exit openings, a traveling toothed picker belt supported on upper and lower supports within the casmg, the inner reach of the belt moving upward we lint exit opening;

a chute adjacent the upper feed opening to receive the entering material and shoot it against the upwardly moving belt; a,

knocker roller adjacent the upper part of the upwardly moving belt, to beat back hulls and loose material while permitting the belt-engaged lint to pass 011; means to remove the lint from the belt; a trough below the knocker roll to receive the material beaten back; a conveyor within the trough to move said material in opposite directions over which the conveyor moves the material and down which it-is guided against the toothed belt. I Y

5. Ina cotton hull separator and opener,- af-rame casing havinga feed opening and a lint exit opening; a travelingbelt clothed with needle pointed wire teeth, supported on upper and lower supports, the inner face of the belt moving upward to the lint exit opening; a chute'adjacent the feed opening to receive the material and shoot it against the upwardly moving belt, a knocker roller adjacent the upper part of the upwardly moving belt,'to beat back hulls and loose material, while permitting the belt-engaget lint to pass on; a rotary brush located be tween the feed opening and the knocker roller for knocking off the hulls and at the same time brushing the lint elevated by the belt, and means to remove the lint from the wire teeth.

6. In aduplex cotton hull separator and opener, a frame casing having a cotton in let openingin its fronts'ide into tHlfllIltGI-i mediate inlet feed compartment; an upper compartment above the inlet feed compart ment; at knocker roller 1n sa d upper com-' partment; alo'wer compartment below said feed com Jartment= a beater roller m said lower compartment; by-pass'es at each side' belt, one face of which moves upwardly through the lower, intermediate and upper compartments, forming one wall thereof; 7

"7. In a cotton hull separator and opener, a frame casing having an upper feed opening and an upper lint exit opening; a toothed picker belt supported for travel on upper and lower supports within the casing, the inner face of the belt moving vupward to the upper lint exit opening; a lower exit opening and a lower feed opening; a multiplicity of beater rolls adjacent the belt spaced one above the other; chutes arranged below the several rollers coacting therewith to guide and sustain the material for the action of the belt and beater rolls, adjustable aprons contiguousto the chutes and movable toward and from the belt, to vary the of the chute ing said chutes from the outside of the casing, and means for locking said ad usting means 111 positlon.

9. In a cotton hull separator and opener,

. ment below the feed compartment; beater rollers in the upper and lower compartments; a bypass from the upper compartment to the lower compartment; means to move the material from the upper compartment to the by-pass; means to move the material from the by-pass into the machine, and a plurality of vertical toothed belts intimately related with their edges contiguous, the front faces of the belts moving upward through the said compartments and forming one wall thereof.

10. In a cotton hull separator and opener, a casing, a plurality of cotton treating compartments having communication with each other, an upright transverse support oontiguous to one side of said compartments, and 'a plurality. of endless toothed belts traveling verticall on the face of the support in parallel or er andupwardly through said compartments for elevatin the cotton from one compartment to anot er, each of said belts being independently removable.

11. As in claim 10, upper and lower supports for said belts, and means on said supports for guiding and separating said belts to a minimum spacing, whereby hulls and cotton are prevented passing between the belts. g

12. In a cotton hull separator and opener, a casing having an intermediate feed compartment provided with a cotton feed inlet; an upper compartment above the feed compartment, a transverse conveyor trough' separating the upper compartment from'the feed compartment, a lower compartment below the feed compartment, by-passes outside the casing depending from the ends of the trough, a conveyor in the trough including right and left sections for conveyingmaterial to each end of the trough and dis-.

. an endless picker belt traveling vertically through said compartments and picking cotton from each compartment and elevating it, and meansat the top of'the casing I for vdofling the cotton from the belt.

13. As inclaim 12, with heaters in the upper and lower compartments'for casting the cotton against the belt, and a brushing roller in the upper compartment for brushing the cotton adhering to the belt.

14. In a cotton hull separator and opener,

a casing having an intermediate feed compartment provided witha cotton feed'inlet;

an upper compartment above the feed compartment, a transverse conveyor trough separating the upper compartment from the feed compartment, a lower compartment side the casing depending from the ends of the trough, a conveyor in the, trough including right and left sections for conveying material to each end of the trough and dis- '70 below the feed compartment, by-passes out- 1 having right and left sections for conveying g the material to thecut away central portion of the said trough, agitatorsc'onnected with the conveyor and acting contiguous to the cut-awayportion of the second trough, an

endless picker belt traveling vertically through said compartments and picking cotton from each compartment and elevating it, and means at the top of thecasing for dofiing the cotton from the belt.

15. In a cotton hull'separator and opener,

an upright easing having an intermediate feed compartment provided with a feed compartment provided with a feed opening terminating short of each side of the casing, an upper compartment above the feed compartment, a lower compartment below the feed compartment,'by.-passes from the upper compartment to the lower compartment, and endless toothed belts traveling vertically through the compartments,

the marginal belts traveling on each side of the feed opening of the feed compartment, whereby inflowing cotton is delivered to the intermediate belts only and the marginal belts are reserved for subsequent picking of the cotton.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

1 WILLIAM L. HANCOCK. 

